Unit 10: The Vietnam War

Pro- Great Society

1.) Almost 60% of full time undergraduate students received aid in federal finance because of the program2.) Head Start program helped more than 16 million preschoolers everywhere in the nation3.) The food stamp program helped to feed more than 20 million citizens in the Nation in more than 8 million homes.

Anti-Great Society

1.) African Americans live off of welfare and use the programs to better advance their income and decrease their poverty rates.2.) Crime Rates increased from slums after the government gave shelters.3.) African American income had increased for about 20 years before the Great Society program.

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was a joint resolution of the U.S. Congress passed on August 7, 1964 in direct response to a minor naval engagement known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. It is of historical significance because it gave U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for the use of military force in Southeast Asia.

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of North Vietnam

Indochina War

between North Vietnam and French. America step in to stop Communist leaders from taking over in Vietnam however they are eventually defeated. French eventually surrendered in Vietnam and Vietnam was now divided in to Communist north and Nationalist South.

Vietcong's war strategy

guerrilla war tactics; small skirmishes

Ngo Dinh Diem

American ally in South Vietnam from 1954 to 1963; his repressive regime caused the Communist Viet Cong to thrive in the South and required increasing American military aid to stop a Communist takeover. he was killed in a coup in 1963.

Domino Theory

A theory that if one nation comes under Communist control, then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control.

draft

A law requiring people of a certain age to serve in the military

Tet Offensive

1968; National Liberation Front and North Vietnamese forces launched a huge attack on the Vietnamese New Year (Tet), which was defeated after a month of fighting and many thousands of casualties; major defeat for communism, but Americans reacted sharply, with declining approval of LBJ and more anti-war sentiment

Hawks

Americans who supported the Vietnam War.

Doves

Americans who opposed the Vietnam War.

Student for a Democratic Society

the leading student organization of the new left of the 1960's, important for ideas; community action programs

Kent State Protests

Students react to Nixon expanding the war. They break windows and burn the ROTC building. National Guard comes in and fires tear gas. students throw rocks at them and the National guard fires at them killing 4 students and injuring nine. Federal charges filed against the guardsmen.

"Living Room War"

For the first time, Americans could sit in their living rooms and see the devastating effects of the war (body bags) on their televisions

Election of 1968

The election in which Nixon won; conservative republican victory; demonstrated that the majority of the American electorate turned their back on liberal reform and activist governments

Escalation in Vietnam War

Conflict began as French conflict to hold its colony of Vietnam after WWII. US policy of containment led Truman to support France financially since Vietnam would be led by the communist Ho Chi Minh if granted independence. Over the course of Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon's presidencies, the involvement of US increased in Vietnam.

Vietnamization

President Richard Nixons strategy for ending U.S involvement in the vietnam war, involving a gradual withdrawl of American troops and replacement of them with South Vietnamese forces

My Lai Massacre

1968, in which American troops had brutally massacred innocent women and children in the village of My Lai, also led to more opposition to the war.

End of Vietnam War- With drawl of Troops

The last U.S. combat troops withdrew from Vietnam on March 29, 1973, marking the end of direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. This withdrawal followed the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973. While the U.S. troops left, the war continued between North and South Vietnam, ultimately ending with the fall of Saigon in 1975.

Effects of Vietnam War

-high causlaties

-large number of refugees flee Vietnam

-treatment/health issues of veterans

-changes in public policy---> war powers act

Pentagon Papers

A 7,000-page top-secret United States government report on the history of the internal planning and policy-making process within the government itself concerning the Vietnam War.

Paris Peace Accords

1973 peace agreement between the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam, and the Vietcong that effectively ended the Vietnam War.

War Powers Act

Act that grants emergency executive powers to president to run war effort